The Last Mile (Amos Decker, #2)(31)

“You mean you think they were hiding something?” Mars said slowly.

“At least it’s worth exploring. Because if they were hiding something it might give someone else a really good reason to kill them.”





CHAPTER

18



OKAY, WHAT ELSE have we found out about Roy and Lucinda Mars?” asked Bogart. The entire team was assembled around a conference table in the rental space.

Milligan glanced at Decker and said, “Okay, I have to admit, it’s a little funny. There’s just really nothing on them that we can find. There were Social Security numbers issued to them, but when I dug into them nothing else came up.”

“Nothing?” said Bogart. “You think they stole the numbers?”

“It’s possible. And they did have driver’s licenses on file twenty years ago, but I couldn’t find anything else about them.”

“Roy Mars had a job,” said Jamison. “And so did Lucinda. They had to have FICA taken out of their paychecks and they had to file tax returns and such.”

“Not that we could find,” said Milligan. “The pawnshop where he worked is long since gone, but they could have paid him in cash or barter. And maybe the same for his wife. And lots of people don’t file tax returns because they don’t make enough money and don’t owe anything.”

“But you still have to file,” pointed out Jamison. “It’s a federal crime not to.”

“And lots of people ignore that,” countered Milligan. “And apparently the Marses were those kind of people, because the IRS has no record of them. And Texas doesn’t have a personal income tax.”

“How about the house?” asked Bogart. “Was there a mortgage on it?”

“Again, not that I could find,” said Milligan. “But in the real estate records Roy and Lucinda Mars were listed as the owners.”

“Okay,” said Bogart. “That doesn’t leave much to go on.”

Milligan glanced at Decker. “I made some inquiries. The cops can’t tell me who made the 911 call about the fire. If they ever knew, those records are long gone. I also asked about the interior of the house. The missing pictures on the wall and all. Apparently they didn’t take crime scene photos of any of that. Just the bodies.”

“Well, that was careless,” opined Bogart.

“Do you think he’s innocent?” asked Milligan.

“Leaning that way,” said Decker.

“Why?” asked Bogart.

“The blood in the car. I gave Mars two plausible and exculpatory explanations of why her blood would be in his car. Neither could be disproved by the cops. Nosebleed or cut. He rejected both. Said she’d never been in his car. A guilty man would have jumped at either scenario. But not Melvin.”

The others glanced at each other, the stark plausibility of what Decker had just said sinking in.

“So that was a test for Mars?” asked Davenport.

“And he passed it,” said Decker. “At least in my mind.”

He held up a sheaf of papers that had been stapled together. “This is the rest of the autopsy report on the Marses. It just came in from the coroner’s office. They’d misplaced it.”

“How’d you find out about that?” asked Bogart.

“The front of the report listed thirty-six pages as the length. There were only thirty-four pages attached. I made a call.”

Jamison said, “And is there anything significant on the new pages?”

“One thing. Lucinda Mars had Stage Four glioblastoma.”

They all stared at him, stunned.

“Brain cancer?” said Davenport.

“Terminal brain cancer, according to the report.”

“Melvin never mentioned that,” said Jamison.

“Maybe he didn’t know,” replied Decker.

Milligan said, “But how does that bear on the case?”

“I don’t know if it does or not,” said Decker. “She was dying, but then someone killed her.” He glanced at Davenport. “Let’s set that aside for a minute and focus on the son. What’s your conclusion about his psychological makeup?”

Davenport pulled out some written notes.

“He’s well above average in intelligence, with a combination of book and street smarts. He graduated from college early after majoring in business. The man is no dummy. He has an interesting combination of keeping things close to the vest but then appearing to open up, as in making very forceful claims of innocence and of being wrongfully persecuted.”

“Not unusual for a man who’s spent two decades in prison,” noted Bogart. “He’s learned how to play the system.”

“Maybe,” said Davenport. “And I have seen that, of course, but there seems to be something different about Mars. I just can’t quite put my finger on it. He desperately wants to know more about this Charles Montgomery. He wants to know the details that Montgomery allegedly knows that would tie him to the murders. And he is wary that the authorities will try to connect him to Montgomery in some sort of murder-for-hire scenario. He’s convinced that even if he is innocent he won’t get out of prison. In fact, he’s borderline paranoid on that.”

“Well, considering how he was almost killed in prison, I don’t think I would call his paranoia unjustified,” said Decker, drawing a sharp glance from Davenport.